Kids Education Revolution

NGO

Partner/Client
Kids Education Revolution (KER)

Sector
NGO

Location
Mumbai, Maharashtra

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

  • Kids Education Revolution (KER) is an innovative NGO in India, founded by Teach For India, that empowers children to shape their education and advocates for systemic changes towards a more equitable and child-centric education system.
  • KER’s approach is grounded in three core principles: fostering a safe environment for expression, promoting collaboration between educators and children, and empowering children to drive positive change within their communities.
  • The retrospective impact evaluation study by 4th Wheel assesses how the KER program has fostered 21st-century skills in children and cultivated belief in and applying its three educational principles over the past five years (2017–2022).

APPROACH

  • An online survey was conducted to gather quantitative data, focusing on variables associated with the 3 Principles and 21st-century skills. The survey comprised items designed to gauge participants’ beliefs, embodiment, and involvement in creating safe environments, collaborative efforts, partnerships, and initiatives for effecting change and developing 21st-century skills via well-planned capacity development.
  • The survey utilized a blend of Likert scales and multiple-choice formats to capture participant responses effectively.
  • Qualitative data for the program was gathered through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions involving a subset of educators and students. These sessions delved deeply into their experiences with the KER program, perceptions of safe spaces, partnerships, and involvement in change-making projects.

  • The study engaged 145 students, comprising 47 boys and 98 girls. Three focus group discussions (FGDs) were carried out involving 19 students. Furthermore, five educators participated in contributing to the study.

INSIGHTS AND FINDINGS

  • The KER program has effectively nurtured a welcoming and inclusive environment, empowering participants to express themselves freely, share their perspectives openly, and acquire the skills necessary to establish similar safe spaces for others.
  • Students felt that in KER programs, educators played a transformative role, going beyond traditional teaching methods to inspire student growth and personal development. They created a nurturing environment encouraging students to step outside their comfort zones, explore their potential, and embrace challenges.
  • During the M&E process, it was found that KER programs have deeply influenced students’ comprehension and integration of compassion into their everyday routines. Numerous students noted a significant shift towards becoming more compassionate, actively demonstrating support for their peers and exemplifying kindness, humility, and caring conduct in their interactions.
  • Students expressed that the welcoming and engaging atmosphere during KER sessions helped them significantly improve their communication skills. Now, they feel more sure of themselves when expressing their thoughts and opinions, which makes communication between participants clearer and better.

RECOMMENDATIONS / VALUE ADDITION

  • Enhancing Access to Safe Spaces: Younger and newly joined students encounter difficulties effectively implementing safe spaces due to language barriers and low confidence levels. Therefore, safe spaces need to be designed and tailored to specific age groups, regions, or topics of interest to promote student participation and engagement.
  • Changing Perceptions of Educators: Students understand how crucial it is to collaborate with educators and have changed their views on traditional teaching methods and educators’ roles. To improve this collaboration, structured partnerships, longer mentorship periods, and workshops on working together and clarifying expectations for students and educators are suggested.
  • Engagement in Change-Making Projects: Students are involved in various change-making projects on different topics, with KER offering help and support. However, spaces like KER Week must be set up for long-term involvement. To improve this, there’s a chance to offer more support through mentoring, connecting with professionals, financial inclusion and aid, and helping KER alumni projects grow and make a bigger difference.
  • Self-Reported 8C Skills: The 8 Cs in Kids Education Revolution (KER) are a set of skills that they believe are important for students to develop. Students express high proficiency in 8C skills, emphasizing the need to focus on building pre-post data to track skill development through the program. It would also be useful to document how the 8Cs manifest in student and educator mindsets, behaviours, and actions by encouraging reflection and sharing real-life examples.
  • Program Enhancements: It is proposed to standardize the 8Cs tool for students, implement the 3Ps assessment at the institute level, and mapping, mentoring, and incubating student change-maker projects. It would be valuable to create and share practical content such as checklists, best practices, teaching learning materials, and curriculums across different platforms to enhance program effectiveness.